


The Man with the Metal Arm

by metal_arm_blues



Series: The Man with the Metal Arm [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 01:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20667113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metal_arm_blues/pseuds/metal_arm_blues
Summary: Third installment.





	The Man with the Metal Arm

**Author's Note:**

> Reader's POV

“Before you call the police, I am only here because I wanted to make sure that you were alright."

He said this while keeping his eyes fixated on the floor next to the table he was sitting at, instead of my naked body. I stared at him in silence, my face contorted with confusion until it suddenly dawned on me: I had almost been raped and possibly killed last night. That metallic sound I heard before passing out was the sound of his arm, this man had saved me and clearly brought me home. I continued to stare at him, but my facial expression softened a bit, feeling that he was not the threat I took him for a moment ago.

“When was the last time you had a hot meal?”

He was doing his best to make eye contact with me, but I could tell that me being unclothed was making him nervous. I held my finger up in the air, indicating for him to hold that thought and then I headed to the bathroom and grabbed my robe that was hanging up behind the door. I then put it on and walked back to the kitchen.

“It’s safe to look at me now.”

I said with a smirk as I then realized that I needed to clean up the shattered glass upon the floor as well as the water. I knelt down to do so, being careful not to cut myself. I looked up at him when he cautiously moved his gaze to me, his posture relaxing once he saw I was covered better. He smirked slightly, which I will admit, I found rather attractive and then he leaned back in his chair

“I’m not the homeless man you think I am. I have a place, it’s not the best, nothing like this…” he said as he gestured around himself at my apartment. “But it’s do able. And as for hot meals, the closest I have come to eating one lately is a tv dinner.”

I smiled and then nodded, sweeping the shards of glass into a dust pan and then tossed it in the trash. I then wiped up all the water and then moved to the closet in the hall to get the Dirt Devil that was in it. I knelt down and vacuumed all around the area where the glass had been and then put it back in the closet. As he probably had already seen from the many toys littering my apartment, I had a child and I did not want to risk him getting hurt with any small left over shards of glass. I came back into the kitchen and folded my arms over my chest as I looked at him. Perhaps I was crazy to offer this to a total stranger, but something told me that I needed to thank him some how for saving my life.

“Alright, if you let me take a quick shower, and promise to stay put, I will cook you some lunch. It is a thank you, for saving me last night.”

He began to open his mouth, and from the way he was fidgeting, I could tell he was going to object to the offer, but I shook my head and held up my hand as I headed to the hallway to go take a shower.

“No refusals. This is a one time offer.”

I then walked into the bathroom and closed the door, of course locking it behind me, because you could never be too careful. As I showered, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that when I got out and dressed, I would walk into the living room to find it empty. But if that were to be the case, then so be it. Who am I to keep someone where they did not wish to be? Within ten minutes, I was showered and dried and dressed and I was heading back to the kitchen, where I found him still seated, reading a different book on Captain America. Hmm, what was this guy’s obsession with the Captain? I shook it off and walked over to the cabinets and started to get some pots and pans out of them and then set them up on the counter.

“So, do you have a name or what?” I asked as I began to fill one of the pots with water and then turned on the gas stove.

“Uh, yeah. James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky, if you like.”

I had been moving the pan of water to the stove when he introduced himself and upon hearing the name, the pan plopped down on the burner of the stove rather loudly from me losing my grip on it. I could feel his eyes on me as I stood there, then I slowly looked at him from over my shoulder. That’s why he looked so familiar, I saw his picture everyday when I went to work. But what I didn’t know was that Bucky was still living. He fell from a train to a frozen river hundreds of feet below, how could anyone survive that? I studied his face for a few silent moments and then there was a knock on the door and I quickly checked the clock above Bucky’s head.

“Crap, I forgot she was dropping him off early today.”

I wiped my wet hands upon my jeans and then hurried to the door and unlocked it and opened it, grinning with delight as a pair of small arms reached out toward me. “Mum, mum, mum, mum.” I took hold of him and hugged him tight, giving him kisses on his face and neck where he is ticklish and he giggled. My son, Oliver just turned one about a month ago, and how I wished he would stop growing. I put him down after he took my face in his small hands and then smacked me gently a few times. He started his usual (and nonstop) babbling as he hurried down the hall on his two feet, picking up random toys as he did so.

“Sorry, I forgot you were bringing him home early today Hannah.”

“Oh, well I’ve got that Zumba class that I simply can’t miss today. These thighs need to be put in check.” she said as she gave her right thigh a smack. I laughed and then looked over my shoulder as Oliver made a sound he normally does if he sees something new. “Ooo!” He must have found Bucky. Hannah raised her eyebrow and peered over my shoulder, seeing the long dark haired man sitting at the table, the angle she saw him however, kept his metal arm out of view.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a date?”

I looked at her and shook my head quickly.

“No, no. This isn’t a date. He is just a friend. Bucky.”

Hannah raised her eyebrow even more and then pursed her lips and then shrugged her shoulders and turned and headed back down the hall of the apartment complex and waved half assed over her shoulder. “Well have fun with your ‘Bucky’.” She said in a suggestive voice. “With someone that gorgeous, I know I would.” Oh Hannah.

I closed the door and locked it once again, heading down the hallway, moving the toys back to the sides as I had them before Oliver came running through. I walked in on quite an entertaining sight. Oliver had succeeded in getting Bucky to hold him, and he was in the process of examining the metal fingers of his left hand. Bucky looked up at me in surprise, almost as if it were rude of him to hold my son.

“I’m sorry, he kept holding his arms up to me and when I would shake my head, he would hit my leg. He’s got quite an arm on him.”

I let out a laugh and nodded. “Yeah, that’s my boy. So…Bucky, I guess I should tell you my name, which I am going to assume you already know. I’m (Y/N) and this…” I said gesturing to the little one that was now standing up on Bucky’s thighs and was inspecting his face by putting his own inches away from it. “is Oliver.”

“Nice to meet you, Oliver.”

Bucky blinked as the one year old then opened his mouth wide and leaned forward and planted it on his cheek.

“Uh…is this normal?”

“Yes, he is giving you a kiss.”

Bucky then gave a small smile and set Oliver down upon the floor, but when he did so, my son gave a high pitched scream and then proceeded to stomp his little feet in protest. I smirked as Bucky wasn’t sure what to do and so he took the hat off his head and placed it atop Oliver’s. This stopped him in his tracks and he reached up and took it off, staring at it before standing on his tip toes as he tried to climb up onto Bucky’s lap again. I reached for the tv remote that was upon the island in the kitchen and then turned on the tv just as the theme song for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was playing. Oliver stopped what he was doing and spun around and hurried over to the tv and stood in front of it, then proceeded to squat and stand up over and over again. Bucky glanced at me and I smiled.

“That’s how he dances.”

It didn’t take long for the water to boil, so I poured the box of pasta into the water and then added a pinch of salt before I began work on the sauce and steamed veggies. I then took some hot dogs, put them on a plate and then put them in the microwave. Once they were done, I whistled over at Oliver and he came running to me and held his arms up. I picked him up and put him in his high chair and buckled him in. Then I sliced up the hot dogs and placed them on his tray and let him help himself. He picked up one of the sliced up pieces and put it in his mouth and then began to sway side to side in his seat happily. I then looked over at Bucky as I tossed the frozen vegetables into the skillet upon the stove with some olive oil.

“Will your husband be alright with a stranger staying for lunch?”

I gave a weak smile and then leaned forward against the island so that I was facing him completely. “He wouldn’t have minded at all. He would have insisted you stayed, especially after saving me last night.” Bucky narrowed his eyes slightly in question as to why I was referring to my husband in past tense. “He was killed in Afghanistan about three months after we found out I was pregnant.” I said as I looked over at Oliver and ran my hand over his soft down that he had for hair. Most babies had a head full of hair by now, but not my boy. His hair was thin like mine, but hey, we never had any issues with cradle cap, so that was a plus.

Bucky lowered his gaze after me telling him about my husband. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” And I smiled. “I have had my time to grieve. He died fighting for our country, and my son will grow up knowing his father was a hero. And that is all that matters to me right now.”

“What was he with?”

“Army.”

Bucky gave a small smile and nodded, most likely because he too had been in the army. At least that was what the book and museum said. I stirred the pasta a bit, seeing that it was close to being done and then I felt a hot dog slice hit my arm and looked at it as it fell to the floor. I gave Oliver a look and he giggled and then continued eating the rest of his meal. “So, forgive me for asking this…how are you still alive?”

He looked at me and then leaned forward and breathed out a sigh through his nostrils. “It’s a long story.” He said as he looked down at his fingers as they fidgeted upon the table. “Well, I don’t have plans this afternoon. So spill it.” I said as I stirred the veggies in the skillet and sprinkled them with some seasoning and salt.

And spill it he did. I let him speak for as long as he needed to, letting him get it all off his chest. However, I wasn’t expecting him to venture into the area of how he was trained to be an assassin. This caused me to fumble my fork as I was scooping up some veggies to put onto Oliver’s plate as we all finally were eating our lunch. I wasn’t necessarily afraid of him because of what he was admitting, but it got me to thinking. “So…when Captain America and his friends were fighting this…Hydra, on that bridge, that was you I saw on the news?” I could not believe I just now remembered this, considering that not that many men went around with a metal arm with a giant red Soviet star upon it. Bucky gave a slight chuckle and nodded, his plate was already empty, so he pushed it forward slowly. “Yeah…yeah that was me. When I was brain washed. Though, I’m not now, so don’t worry.”

I smiled and then widened my eyes when a veggie flew across the table at Bucky, but he caught it easily with his metal hand. “Ollie! No throwing.” I said as I gave his hand a gentle smack. He whined and then kicked his legs and I sighed, getting a wash cloth and cleaning off his face as I then took him out of the seat and put him down so he could run rampant. I stood up and picked up my plate to clean it off, but when I reached for Bucky’s he took it and stood up with it, following me over to the sink to rinse it off. I then reached out for it and stuck it in the dishwasher and he looked at the machine and shook his head.

“Those would have been nice to have back in the day.”

I laughed and then closed the dishwasher door and then got out some wine and offered him a glass. “I bet. Man, you’re what? 99 years old?” He pursed his lips as I gave a grin and then poured the wine in his glass as he sat back down at the table. “Well, may I say, the years have done you good.” I said giving him a nod and a playful wink. This made him blush, which I honestly thought was absolutely adorable, especially for the fact that he was an ex-assassin. Suddenly Oliver came out of his nursery with a toy in each hand and then went to Bucky and put them on his lap. Then he went back to his room and came back with two more and put those on his lap as well. Soon Bucky had a pile of toys upon his lap and he decided to take them over to the area in the living room Oliver enjoyed playing in and he set them down upon the carpet. Oliver followed him and then began to play with the pile of toys, stacking them on top of each other and then laughing when they would topple over. Bucky stood up and then turned to me and ran a hand through that long luscious hair of his.

“I should probably get going. Thank you so much for lunch and for those hot dogs the other night.” He said remembering that this was not the first time I had fed him. I smiled and nodded, watching as Oliver hurried over to Bucky and raised his arms up, whining at him as he tilted his head back to look up at him. My son had a talent for knowing the signs of someone about to leave. Bucky hesitated, but then knelt down and took hold of him gently, bringing him up with him to his full height. “Be good to your mom, you hear?” Oliver put both of his small hands on Bucky’s face and then gave it a couple smacks and grinned. Bucky gave a small laugh and then set him down, prompting another little stomping and shrieking fit. Bucky cringed and looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders, giving a slight smile. “I’m used to this.”

I then walked him to the door, Ollie clinging to my pant leg as I took each step and I grabbed Bucky’s jacket from my room and handed it to him. He put it on before stepping out of the door and into the hallway of the apartment building and then he turned to me. “If you are ever in this part of town again, don’t hesitate to knock.” I said with a smile as I looked up at him. He gave a small smile and a nod of his head as he looked down at me, and then down further at Ollie as he peeked at him from behind my legs. He then gave us a wave and headed down the hall and down the stairwell and disappeared from our sight.

Oh, how I hoped I would be seeing him again…


End file.
